Free Republic

During an increasingly ugly meeting, the company’s CCO refused to answer whether money laundering allegations were true and blamed staff for undermining the business. During a private meeting with editors this week, a top Newsweek executive blamed his own journalists for the magazine’s recent turmoil and refused to answer whether the company committed financial crimes. Newsweek Media Group interim Chief Content Officer Johnathan Davis took questions from editors for nearly 90 minutes on Wednesday, according to recording obtained by The Daily Beast, about firings and investigations that have engulfed the company. Last month, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office raided Newsweek...

Chaos roiled the Newsweek offices Monday with the firings of the editor-in-chief, his number two and three reporters — possibly in retaliation for their unfavorable coverage of the company. Johnathan Davis, the co-founder/CEO of Newsweek Media Group, ordered the firing of top editor Bob Roe, his deputy Ken Li and reporters Celeste Katz and Josh Saul, as well as Josh Keefe, a reporter for the International Business Times, a sister company, a source said.